Offense, Defense Both Cashing In On Third Down

It's called the "money down" in the NFL, and the Packers' rise into NFC playoff contention has a lot to do with the team's performance on third down, on both sides of the ball.

For the season, the Packers rank fifth in the league in third-down conversions on offense (45.7 percent) and fourth on defense (33.3). That makes Green Bay one of only three teams in the NFL in the top five on both sides of third down, Minnesota and Miami being the others.

But it's not just where the Packers stand on third down for the year, it's how much they've improved over the course of the season as well.

Following the Week 4 loss in Minnesota that dropped the Packers to 2-2, the offense ranked 16th in the league on third downs and the defense ranked 28th. The collective improvement of 35 places in the rankings in those two areas is a big reason Green Bay has gone 5-2 since then to put itself among the NFC Wild Card leaders.